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Franklin D. Roosevelt. Typed letter signed with initials ("FDR") as President with an envelope addressed in his ha...
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Description
Franklin D. Roosevelt. Typed letter signed with initials ("FDR") as President with an envelope addressed in his hand. 2 pages, (7 x 8.75 inches), The White House, May 18, 1944, to the Hon. Harry L. Hopkins. On White House bifolium stationery with original transmittal envelope addressed in Roosevelt's hand. Paperclip indentations with partially erased pencil notation to upper left corner recto."You have got to lead the life not of an invalid but the life of common or garden sense."
Roosevelt writes, in part:
It is grand to get the reports of how well you are getting on at White Sulphur Springs, and I have had a mighty nice letter from Rivers - couched mostly in medical terms - which, however, I have had translated! The main things I get from it are... that you have got to lead the life not of an invalid but the life of common or garden sense. I, too, over one hundred years older than you are, have come to the same realization and I have cut my drinks down to one and half cocktails per evening... The main gist of this is to plead with you to stay away until the middle of June at the earliest. I don't want you back until then. If you do come back before then you will be extremely unpopular in Washington, with the exception of Cissy Patterson who wants to kill you off as soon as possible - just as she does me...
I had a really grand time down at Bernie's - slept twelve hours out of the twenty-four, sat in the sun, never lost my temper, and decided to let the world go hang. The interesting thing is the world didn't hang. I have a terrible pile in my basket but most of the stuff has answered itself anyway...
Harry L. Hopkins was a close friend and advisor to President Roosevelt. When this letter was penned, Hopkins had been battling stomach cancer for five years and was convalescing at a West Virginia hospital. Roosevelt relied heavily on him as a confidante, and the friendship between the two is evident here in Roosevelt's lighthearted banter and his self-deprecating sense of humor. The reference to Cissy Patterson likely didn't surprise Hopkins since the journalist, a vocal proponent of isolationism, frequently tussled with Roosevelt in the press.
Auction Info
2022 May 7 Treasures from the Melvin "Pete" Mark, Jr. Collection Signature® Auction #6256 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
May, 2022
7th
Saturday
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